Leap into Samhain

The village of Leap (pronounced 'Lepp' not 'Leep', even though it celebrates O'Donovan, a chieftain who escaped pursuit by LEAPing his horse over a ravine), has a wonderful display of 'scarecrows' for Samhain (Halloween) made by the local residents who compete for the best entry. The village is spread out along a busy main road and displays all manner of creative and humorous constructions including alarmingly realistic police men and women with 'speed cameras' (hairdryers) and a faceless hitch-hiker in a mac (extra).

We had lunch in the pub where the female committee were noisily selecting the winners while the men of the village sat at the bar concentrating on eating vast portions of potatoes with their beef and boiled bacon, occasionally passing brief comments between mouthfuls. A wedding was about to happen somewhere too so we had straw-stuffed scarecrows, women in tight frocks, men in suits and men in muddy boots all in the mix - plus a few 'live' witches and ghouls of various ages parading about. Just part of the daily fabric of West Cork so it was.